[A2k] Re: [Wsis-pct] IP Justice Comment to IGF on Top Policy Issues for Athens

[Jean-Baptiste Soufron]

>
> Litigation is the original mechanism of 'Digital Rights
> Management', and it's what got us here in the first place -
> designing licenses so we wouldn't have to litigate as much.
> Litigation costs money. I'm surprised how many people are stuck on
> one implementation of Digital Rights Management. If freedom is a
> right, which we should all agree, then what needs to be discussed
> is the balance of Digital Rights Management. This may all be
> semantic for some of you, but I believe that it is important if
> there is to be a firm basis for forming equitable laws and licenses
> that can apply around the world.

I don't understand a word of what you say.

Litigation is democratic and respectful of civil liberties, DRM are
not... point.

And just for the record, litigation costs money, filling my ipod with
DRM music would cost me 15 000 dollars...

>
> At the core is the definition of 'property'. Oddly, I find that
> most of this discussion dances around what others have defined as
> property instead of what we think property is. The core to the
> issue is who owns what and who doesn't own what. That transcends
> software, content, patenting life and all manner of issues. And
> then we have to consider how creators can make money.
> I find it disturbing that so many people who are upset with the
> issue of who owns what don't want to dig into the meat of the
> problem itself. It's a systemic issue, and thinking that we can
> solve the world's problems by beating a software license to death
> seems... silly in a broader context to me. Software licenses should
> be about software, not the manner in which the software is used.
> Content licenses should be about content, and so on.

And food should be about food ?

Copyright is about what you authorize or forbid people to do with
your creation, Software is a creation, Software licenses are about
what you authorize or forbid people to do with your Software, Content
licenses are about what you authorize or forbid people to do with
your Content.

But you don't have the right to authorize or forbid everything. Some
authorizations are automatic for users, and some DRM are only a way
for creators to ensure that they will be able to get rid of all these
protections offered by law to the public.

>
> Nobody here has the monopoly on 'being right'. What we should be
> doing is 'finding right', and I'm not certain that we're taking the
> time to do this right. My concerns have been made public, and a few
> people understand what I've meant and have helped point out the
> weak points and strengths. That is what discussion is for.

The WIPO treaty were signed in 1994, and the DMCA in 1995.
Discussions begun in the late 80's and probably even before. Thank
you for taking all our work into account and for dismissing our
arguments on the basis of your authority.

Best,

JBS

>
> Jean-Baptiste Soufron wrote:
>>> DRM could have valid implementations - for example, to assure
>>> that the
>>> rights of Free Software are maintained. Rights are rights, but
>>> licenses
>>> vary - and so do implementations of objects.
>>
>> There already is a very efficient way to assure that the rights of
>> Free Software are maintained. It is called "litigation", and it comes
>> with a handy set of tools that will ensure that the debate will be
>> reasonnably fair and democratic : due process of law, rules of
>> evidence, etc.
>>
>> Replacing the democratic rules of litigation with automated computer
>> programs is not only illusory with regards to its efficiency, it is
>> also highly immoral and dangerous for democracy.
>>
>> Jean-Baptiste Soufron
>> cersa-cnrs paris 2
>> +33 (0)6 17 96 24 57
>> http://soufron.typhon.net
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
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